WHACK!
by Sahxyel
Summary: It surely had to be some sort of joke. Why would someone sneak into a locked room just to chuck a book with the title 'Death Note' at his head?
1. WHACK!

_**Sahxyel:**__ Another tidbit, or prompting, one-shot I decided to throw out into the Death Note fan fiction community. I'll admit that I suck at a continuous update, but my abilities with plot expansion and creation is overwhelmingly strong…Blame the bunny._

_**Random Moogle**__: That's PLOT bunny, kupo!_

_**Danny**__: Since most people, when deciding to break the 4__th__ wall with Death Note, just pull the characters into our 'world' itself, or place themselves within theirs, Sahxyel has decided a somewhat unorthodox way of introducing the breakage of 4__th__ wall. She wonders if the new approach will catch on, or has been attempted at all, but she'll try to make it appealing._

_**Sahxyel**__: Thank you my muses! Now, let's get Mr. Disclaimer Guy in here and begin this!_

_**Disclaimer Guy:**__ Nothing is owned or gained from this fic; only amusement._

_**WHACK!**_

It was a typical night, what with stars twinkling outside and the bright moon illuminating the city below in an effervescent glow. Cars bustled down streets, people hurried to their homes and families for the night, ending their diurnal processes for the rest of the night; lights upon lights flared on to brighten the emptying streets. Normal people, living completely normal lives were completing their day.

Unlike these normal people who shunned the appeals of nighttime work, a man sat quite comfortably in a seemingly awkward position within the darkness of his current residence. Currently, his unblinking and orb-like eyes were focused upon a bright computer screen, whilst his brain processed the information that flicked up like pop-ups. He didn't seem very intrigued, actually he seemed a tad bored at the trivial information that revealed itself. Already there was solid evidence to convict the felon of the case he was surveying, anything more seemed too superfluous.

"Things are getting too simple." He murmured, his voice reverberated against the empty walls in a faint echo that lingered in the air. Sighing softly, he grabbed a small strawberry and examined it briefly. Apparently finding it to his liking, he simply devoured it, leaving the remaining green leaves to be all that was left. Without looking, he tossed the remains over his shoulder into a large bowl behind, filled with random residue from his snacking spree.

A strand of black hair fell limp in front of his left eye suddenly, and he tensed. His eyes focused on the hair, watching it sway back and forth. In the light of the computer screen, the hair was black and thick, swaying threateningly as if it were going to poke his eye out of spite.

"I can't believe it." He muttered to himself, still staring. "Am I actually watching my _hair_?" He frowned noticeably, very sure that his boredom had led to this. He supposed that things could not go any lower from this moment. At any case, he redirected his attention to the computer.

_**WHACK!!**_

He tensed and whirled around, immediately scanning the darkened room with wide and alert eyes. The back of his head throbbed painfully from some sort of projectile that must have been launched directly at him. Although, as much surprise he felt from the sudden attack, he was not prepared for seeing what was in the room with him.

Nothing.

Nothing else was in the entire secure room. It unnerved him greatly; he was VERY certain something had hit the back of his head. And judging by the force, he had assumed it must have been thrown by someone from approximately three feet away.

The entrance to the room was seven feet away, the door firmly shut tight for good measure.

"What…?" This made no sense. There had to be a rhyme and reason for everything, including what hit him and **more** importantly _who_ hit him with the object. How could somebody easily break into one of his most secure sites and infiltrate his own room without alerting the security systems or himself? It was logical to think of some sort of enemy; being a great detective did have the unfortunate repercussion of having those sort of people who were out to get him. But…if one of his enemies did manage to infiltrate the compound to the very heart, why did they not kill him?

"There was certainly enough time to simply load a gun and fire…and at the range they were at to throw something that hard would have made it easy to perform a fatal shot. " He mused aloud, examining the door first. It bore no evidence of ever being opened. "That's peculiar."

He scratched the side of his head, pushing away the messy black hair that was hampering his scratching process. "Hmm…" He hated to admit he was stumped; but perhaps the surveillance videos had caught something regarding the mysterious infiltrator. He turned and walked back to the computer, slouching as he walked, and stopped. Something on the floor had caught his eye; the object that had hit his head had skidded, landing not too far away from the computer by the look of it.

Crouching down, he carefully studied the object. Simply put, it was some sort of book. It was fairly small, and possibly not wordy enough to make it a true novel. A disturbing picture graced the cover, featuring a young man and a horrendous monster with some sort of clownish head and long limbs. It was a black binding, which allowed the man to conclude that it was the reason why he had not noticed it earlier.

"Death Note…" He muttered, reading the title of the book. It was a grim omen, possibly from the infiltrator themselves to imply his impending death. Or perhaps it was to psychologically unnerve him; he had yet to decide which one it was.

After a moment of deliberation within his mind, he tenderly reached out and took it between his thumb and index finger, plucking it from the ground as if it were diseased. He examined every single aspect of the book, finally concluding it had to have been a translated Japanese manga from all the flashy tags and graphic images displayed within. There were two names listed on the spine of the book, and a copyright in the first page with all the legalities listed in an interesting order. He made a mental note to look up all the information to verify it as he flipped through the pages.

He paused.

On a page he was examining featured a simple 'L' on a computer screen. It was obvious that the place shown was Interpol in the manga, but…

How could anyone simply syndicate his own alias into this? He was certain he had discouraged whoever had used the name 'L' to never do so again, using various methods, but he never did once think that the public would read about his own self…-fictionalized by the appearance of it. These people that had hands in creating this manga were in some _serious_ trouble.

Then again, he reasoned that perhaps the person or people that had done this were not afraid of anything he could do to stop them. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if they were mocking him.

The great detective carried the book back over to his computer and crouched down, already typing something out on the computer with his free left hand. His right hand gently placed the disturbing manga next to the monitor. He started to work.

-- Death --Note -- Manga --

_**Several Weeks and Hours Later…**_

Not one security tape had shown anything regarding an intruder. And coincidentally, the great detective L still breathed and lived for another day.

L suspected that the perpetrator's goal was to first taunt him, but with it being two months later, he had assumed that something would have happened by now. During the prior weeks, he had thoroughly inspected and studied the manga's details and plotline. However, on every search he launched for the publishing company and authors/artists of the story, his searches remained futile. No companies existed like 'Shonen Jump' or 'Viz Media', no copyright was filed for the title 'Death Note', no authors with the names Tsugumi Ohba or Takeshi Obata ever existed in any place in the world, including Japan itself.

What really unnerved L was how close it seemed that the artist was to depicting how he really appeared. The empty room with the lowly computer was a dead bulls-eye on his setup at the moment, and the messy black hair and simple clothes just cinched the similarity of appearance…

Luckily it did not reveal his face, or what he really looked like. That was a relief.

L did not think much of the storyline. He found it mildly entertaining, but he truly was not interested in the notion of Shinigami or some kid with a complex that wanted to 'improve the world'. He thought the name 'Kira' was absolutely unoriginal, both looking and sounding as if someone was truly struggling with the English language.

Another popup appeared on his computer. Another death in a prison; cause of death was a heart attack.

…That was strange. That was the thirty-sixth heart attack related death in a federal prison this week…

But it was ridiculous to think that it was connected to the manga. More than likely, the person that had snuck into his compound had managed to pull off this stunt. Obviously, it was to try and shake his nerve but it would not work. L did not fall for petty tricks like the one he was facing now. If somebody wanted to toy with his mind, let them try and figure out how to do that.

Ignoring the existence of the gothic manga, L settled down to studying the facts regarding the deaths. Perhaps he would be able to find out _who_ had dared to challenge him in such a pathetic and childish way. The manga lay upon the floor innocently, no longer attracting any attention from L.

He noted to himself to get Watari to contact the Interpol about the serial killings soon; this was a case that fulfilled his requirements and had to be dealt with. The help from the agencies involved would contribute some sort of relief on his own sources, and L was sure that he would be able to catch the cocky challenger before things developed too far.

L tried dispelling the odd notion of déjà vu as he stared at his computer screen. There was just something very familiar about this situation, that was comparable to the same manga that lay on the floor nearby-

**WHACK!!**

Once again, L felt something definitely hard slam into the back of his head. He spun around as quickly as possible, alert and wild-eyed.

Yet again, nobody was there. Only a book lay innocently on the floor, similar to the first one L had received weeks ago, but…different in the same manner. It was hard to mistake the _2_ on the spine of the manga. The door on the other side of the room was still firmly shut, suggesting no entry whatsoever.

The words 'Death Note' gleamed from the cover.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Although Light Yagami was busily scribbling away in his Death Note, he had been as alert to his surroundings as his television. He could detect anybody heading for his room from just the soft sounds made from outside of his locked door. He could even tell where the Shinigami, Ryuk, was at the moment without even looking. Ryuk, by the sound of his shuffling, was somewhere on the ceiling. Probably to annoy him or perhaps for a lark, Light really didn't care at the moment-

_**WHACK!!**_

Something very hard hit the back of Light's head, bouncing off and landing on the floor in a 'thump'. Light jumped slightly in his seat from the initial shock, then turned his head upwards to glare at Ryuk. "What was that for?!"

"What?" Ryuk asked curiously, cocking his head to look at Light correctly. He had an odd grin on his face, odder than usual anyway…

Light narrowed his eyes dangerously at the Shinigami, clearly not amused in the slightest. "You hit me with something Ryuk."

The Shinigami shrugged, but the grin did not vanish. "No I didn't. It hit you, but _I didn't throw it_." Ryuk burst out with chuckles at Light's unbelieving face, then pointed to the object lying on the floor. "And I don't think you own that book anyway, Light." He said deviously.

Light slowly stood from his seat, still glaring at Ryuk as he did so. Looking to the item Ryuk was pointing at, Light saw that is was merely a small novel lying innocently on the floor. Light picked the book up and looked it over carefully, noting to himself that for a small book, it did hurt when it hit his head. He flipped through the pages to find text within, with extremely disturbing pictures at intervals as well. Closing the book, he observed the binding a little more extensively.

The book had a black, semi-fuzzy binding, with a white cover around the middle. Silvery letters on the front of th book read '_Death Note: Another Note, The Los Angeles B.B. Murder Cases_'. Incredulously, Light looked at the author's name and even the back, seeing labels stuck on the lower portion of the white binding.

"Ryuk…what is this?" Light asked, his voice testy. Were there Shinigami authors that he didn't know about who randomly threw their novels down from their world just for a laugh? There were Notebooks in the Shinigami World so it wouldn't be a bad assumption-

Ryuk laughed loudly, doubling over on the roof. "It's a book! And it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen in the Shinigami Realm either!" The clown-like Shinigami kept on laughing, ignoring Light's alarmed expression.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Sahxyel**: And that's all folks!

**Danny:** WHAT?!

**Random Moogle:** That's right, Kupo! Sahxyel cannot maintain a Fic updating schedule, so she has shoved a plot bunny into a one-shot and hopes the idea catches on! For all of you that enjoyed it, we humbly thank you!

**Sahxyel: I changed my mind and decided to fly with this for a while! Check out the next chapter!!**


	2. THWACK!

**Sahxyel**: Since I've been alerted for my first chapter, I decided to place a second chapter. Which means I need to change the first chapter…

**Disclaimer Guy:** Oddly enough, with no quip from Danny or Random Moogle, there is the disclaimer that says, no own of the Death Note. Not even a fake one.

_**THWACK!**_

Halfway around the world, in the orphanage of Wammy, three runners up to the great detective L were having another day of monotony and studying to maintain their stranglehold on their positions. The day outside was murky and grey, suggesting rain or perhaps an overcast condition. Knowing England's weather patterns for the spring, most inhabitants of Mr. Wammy's Orphanage expected rain.

Indeed, fat raindrops started to slowly drum against the roof, echoing in the wide halls. It was unusually quiet in the orphanage considering the previous day was filled with screams of laughter and a muddy football. Roger's disciplinary actions must have quelled the children's uproarious spirit for now…

Within a locked room of the Wammy Orphanage, one particular orphan scowled at his daily work, tapping his pencil against his desk impatiently. On the other side of the room, another orphan sat on a squishy red beanbag chair, a handheld gaming system clasped between his hands in a death-grip. The two had been at it for hours, one to studying, the other to his new game.

However, the twitch in the studying orphan's eye was becoming more noticeable. It was fairly obvious that his patience was wearing thin. His eyes kept flicking towards a silver-wrapped chocolate bar that lay not too far away from his hand. A wastebasket near his desk gave testament to how much of the confection he ingested in one day _alone_. He was starting to get stressed out, he knew it, but the _need_ to beat his rival was almost as strong as his need for chocolate.

It still made it a hard decision though. Sighing in frustration, he brushed his fingers through his blonde hair to calm down. The red-haired orphan glanced upwards for a second, before glancing right back down to his game. The glare from the screen reflected off of the goggles he wore, casting a light upon the wall instead.

Raindrops splattered against the window near the desk. Briefly, the blonde-haired teenager glanced upwards to look out at the gloomy grounds. He noted the grass becoming soggy, and the pavement of the walkways to be dotted by the telltale dark marks of the rain. Absent-mindedly, his hand snaked towards the chocolate-

_**THWACK!!**_

"OW!"

Both teenagers flinched simultaneously, something definitely hard smashing into their heads at the same time. The two objects naturally bounced off and landed onto the floor. Immediately, the two stood from their seats, items forgotten, and at each other's throat.

"What the hell was that for Matt?!" The blonde-haired teenager snarled, his eyes blazing with unrepressed anger.

The red-haired teenager was not intimidated by his friend's anger, instead glaring right back. "What do you mean?! You chucked something at me!"

The two glared at each other for a second, before a soft knock interrupted the two in their battle of glares. With an angry huff, the blonde haired teen marched to the door, unlocked it, and swung it open. Upon seeing who was standing there, his temper only worsened. "What do _**you **_want?!" He spat, sorely tempted to send the visitor flying down the hall.

The orphan twirled a strand of white hair with his fingers simply, holding something in his free hand. His face suggested no emotion, however there seemed to be a touch of annoyance represented within his wide eyes. "I came to return the object you decided to assault me with Mello." He replied smoothly, offering the object to the teenager. The teenager, Mello, blinked at the object.

"That's not mine." Mello said, then glared down at the white-haired boy. "I haven't left this room since breakfast Near. Not my fault that someone else agrees with me about _you_."

"Hey, Mello, you seen these-?" Matt approached the door, holding the objects that had hit both of them on the head mere moments ago. Near's eyes locked onto the objects, before glancing down at his own thoughtfully.

"How interesting…" Near muttered. Mello rolled his eyes, snatching the two objects from Matt's hold. On closer inspection, it seemed to be a collection of DVDs that had all found their way to attacking the top three orphans of Wammy's House.

"Death Note?" Mello flipped the first DVD and examined the back. "Someone went out of their way to chuck a bunch of stupid Japanese Anime at us?"

"It possibly could have been O." Near said, ignoring the overzealous eye-roll Mello was performing. He twirled a strand of hair, staring at the DVD pointedly. "She owns a large amount of Manga and Anime, these could belong to her."

Mello snorted loudly, enough for Near to glance upwards at him. "Is there something wrong with my assumption?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just that O is SIX. She's too young and stupid to break into our rooms. Let alone throwing these at us to the point of near-concussion!" He looked over the DVD once more, seemingly nonplussed. "Plus, Roger wouldn't let her keep something like this. It shows a sign of psychological problems."

Matt looked to Mello, obviously skeptical. "What?"

Mello sighed in annoyance. "It's why Roger won't let you have games like Grand Theft Auto or Devil May Cry. Something that has to do with some kid that left here and turned homicidal." Shrugging, Mello turned to glare at Near. "So are you trying to get us in trouble or something?!"

"No Mello." Near replied, blinking. "Why would I harbor such malignant ideals?"

Eye-twitching, Mello glanced Near's DVD and glared down at it. He stopped, his eyes widening in bewilderment. He _knew_ who was on the cover of Near's DVD. "Impossible!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Near gazed at the cover, seeing a black-haired man with black bags under his wide eyes grace the cover. A three was imprinted on the side of the cover, allowing the white-haired orphan to conclude that Matt and Mello, logically, had the first and second. What he didn't understand was why Mello looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel in his head at any moment.

_SLAM!_

To Near's surprise, Mello stepped back with Matt, promptly slamming the door in his face.

"…" Tucking the DVD under his arm, Near shuffled back to his room, softly closing the door as soon as he arrived. He took another curious look at the DVD, then opened it. What harm would come from viewing what was given to him? At most, he would be able to conclude whether or not the DVD belonged to O. She preferred the fantasy or humor sort of Anime, and if this didn't fit in either category…

As he turned on the small television in his room, Near mused on the idea of the DVD being an intricate plot to label himself as a potential psychiatric problem to Roger, the case of which would put Mello in an advantageous position as L's successor.

Still, Mello wouldn't stoop to such underhanded ways to gain the first position. It was like…cheating almost. Mello would want to win fair and square, otherwise the victory would not be as sweet. Near had always known that was why Mello studied so hard, and zealously, to try and surpass him. Plus, it was an insult to his intelligence to think of something so ridiculously simple such as this. If Mello did try something underhanded, it would be more secretive, more complex.

No…this had to be something else.

The television flared to color and life. Near sat upon his bed and stared at the screen, twirling a strand of hair between his index finger and thumb in a thoughtful position.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Again, if one were to jump halfway around the world from Wammy's House, yet another person was beginning the day as normally as possible. It was as normal a life one could have, and there was nothing very special about the person anyway. Had this person truly known what exact future they were destined to, how much would be disrupted in the ideals they had? Or even, what would have been done differently if knowledge of a great, and yet so terrible, future were at hand?

_**THWACK!**_

A simple USB drive collided with the person's head. Unlike the other objects, this one held massive amounts of information upon its memory banks. The drive was small and silvery, with creepy letters carved delicately into the aesthetic plastic silver.

The words 'Death Note' gleamed invitingly from the darkly carven letters. Curiosity alone prompted its quick retrieval.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Sahxyel:** Another amazingly short chapter, but it should appease some people with it. The final person mentioned was purposefully not named. It could be an interesting queue of people! Guesses are appreciated! :D Also, the USB drive contains the last media-related Death Note format! Go to Wikipedia if you want to know what it is…

**Danny:** It looks like Sahxyel will make this into a short 'work-on' project for now.

**Random Moogle: Kupo! This chapter has been edited by Sahxyel!**


	3. Coincidence

**Sahxyel:** Probably the only chapter to not begin with an exclamation as of yet, this begins the turmoil and confusion that comes with a manga that eerily mirrors life as it is for L. As for Light, his own realization will not kick fully in at the moment. After all, he's been reading of Beyond Birthday this whole time…

**Danny:** Time intervals between chapters are varied. It could be weeks or months from the previous chapter, so read to figure out what arc it is in, and even what event is happening at the time.

**Disclaimer Guy:** Sahxyel owns neither the Death Note franchise, nor the characters included in this fiction. ALSO. If any of you have not read the BB Murder Cases might not want to read this due to spoilers.

**Coincidences?**

It was truly impossible, how everything just seemed to fall into line with the enigmatic manga so far was by far the most bizarre and confusing thing that L had ever witnessed. The events happening around L, when regarding the Kira case, was plainly mentioned within the volume one and two, which made him contemplate the possibility of the third coming out as prophetic as its predecessors.

Whatever the case, L had been caught in surprise a few number of times. Learning of Chief Yagami's existence alarmed him, tempting the great detective to research the family of the chief for the existence of one Light Yagami. However, he stopped himself from jumping to such drastic conclusions so quickly. Perhaps the name was mere coincidence?

And perhaps the name of the criminal used to play as 'L' for the broadcast was only a coincidence too. Tonight was going to be the airing of 'L's' challenge to Kira, and to pinpoint exactly where in Japan the murderer was at the moment. Although thoughts of the manga reflected his own assumptions of the case, L dispelled the notions for favor of a more logical approach.

Still…

If Kira_ was_ able to kill without having contact of the person in question, and Lind L. Taylor was killed with the first broadcast, would that concrete the preemptive suspicion of Light Yagami? Or was this all mindless pandering to a fictional work, made to psych L out and expect one event to happen, when another could be hovering right around the corner to catch him by surprise?

Too many questions, and not enough answers.

Or were the answers all within the manga that lay beside his computer?

Would Lind L. Taylor's death prove the manga's prophetic nature?

…No.

Reaching for an éclair, L reassessed his thought-pattern, his eyes focused upon his trusty computer screen. This was all too early to be even thought of being correct. So far, L had not viewed any 'innocents' dying, and so far, Kira was only killing criminals and not the people that chased after him with a pair of handcuffs.

Not yet anyway.

So who was to say that the manga was still prophetic or not? For all L knew, this was all a mere coincidence to disturb him, and at an even greater level, disrupt his mental thought processing to chase phantoms and specters that did not exist. A notebook of death, could it be possible? Could it be even plausible? Not likely.

But there was a percent of chance that it did.

If it was, what would his course of action be?

L surveyed his éclair thoughtfully, examining the pastry with tired eyes. This coincidence had driven him to a drastic case of insomnia, and was giving him a rather annoying headache.

"Too many questions." He sighed at last, then bit into the éclair. L chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then paused. Although he hadn't realized it earlier, the revelation had struck him like a lightning bolt. Since he had received the third manga, he had been referring to the murderer as Kira.

The public didn't deem the murderer 'Kira' until last week.

'Kira' couldn't have been a coincidence too, could it?

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Flipping the page, Light glanced at his watch to determine what time it was. It was growing late, and his judgment for today had been interrupted repeatedly by his curiosity of the novel. On his desk lay the Death Note, with the _Los Angeles B.B. Murder Cases_ lying right beside it. He alternated between reading and writing, as more names popped up on the television from a day of criminal activity.

So far, he found the novel as an interesting read. The mystery was not so much of a mystery, but the inside look towards the detective L's workings were intriguing at best. He didn't care much for the protagonist, but he was having more of a time trying to pick out the helpful information he could from the text.

Light knew L would be looking into the case of mysterious heart attacks of criminals, which at one point could pit him against the most reclusive and enigmatic detective in the world. If this novel was genuine, then Light held a decisive insight of the workings of L. It would take time to call the attention of such a detective, however. Then the real game would begin.

Every possibility had to be taken into account in the event something changed or went wrong. The good thing about his position, however, was that his own plans were flexible enough for a simple error.

After all, his connections to the investigation in the NPA were MORE than enough to inform him of impending danger.

Just as he thought that, the television switched to a new broadcast. Breaking news…?

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

_Flip…_

_Flip…_

_Flip…_

…

L paused on a particular page within his manga again, staring at the page for a long time. On it featured a man sitting on a subway train, writing in slots that came from within a manila package. L knew that there was a chance that it could really happen. He knew of the consequences of that action, he knew the victims from the action. He even knew what led to that event in the first place.

Should he take action against it, if it were an actual event?

Or would it be a meaningless task, set on distracting him again?

…Would it really happen?

L was certain he was starting to doubt either his sanity or his perspective on reality. But everything happening was falling too linear with the manga 'Death Note'. Already, L's morbid curiosity drove him to looking up on his FBI agents list for one certain agent.

Eerily, or unluckily, Raye Penbar was a name listed there. And he was listed to be following one Light Yagami.

As soon as Light discovered the man's name, several men would die because of it. One woman would die an anonymous death, a woman L had worked with when taking down his old protégé years ago…

Now, for the logical question. Was it something he should waste his time with? Obviously, the logical side of his mind scolded his superstition of the manga. It was foolish to be latching onto something like this so closely with no evidence other than a couple volumes of a manga that technically did not exist at all.

If the Death Note did lie within Light's desk, underneath that false bottom…

It'd be _insanely_ easy to just look and see if it was really there.

L shook his head. It was madness to cling to this idea, this impossible notion of shinigami and notebooks of death. These coincidences with the manga were poisoning his thoughts, disrupting his clear mind for thoughts aligned with the manga's storyline. The evidence of the truth of the manga was only barely proven.

L pressed a button on the keyboard of his computer.

"Yes, Ryuzaki?" The wizened voice of Watari came from a speaker next to his monitor, referring to L by one of his aliases.

"Are the cameras installed within that bus as I've requested?"

There came a tired sigh. "Yes. The cameras have been placed within that specific bus. The tapes will be presented to you promptly afterwards."

Vaguely, L wondered what he would do after viewing the happenings within that particular bus to SpaceLand. If the manga was correct…then Raye Penbar would be as good as dead to the world.

L quickly snatched a stick of pocky from a tray next to him. All these lives lost day after day… he was trained to accept as many casualties to catch the killer with irrefutable proof, but the sheer mass of deaths from this case was ridiculous. It'd be incredibly simple just to take action with the manga in mind, perhaps even catching Light with a mistake on his accord.

According to the mangas, Light would know his room would be bugged by the thin broken lead placed within his door hinge. If he took the precaution of removing and placing it back after installation of the cameras and microphones, Light wouldn't know of the bugging.

Which would mean…he'd reveal the Death Note.

But this wouldn't happen until there was enough reasonable suspicion on Light to consider suggesting bugging in the first place. The suspicion was caused by the FBI agents dying, suggesting that Kira was somebody who was being followed. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the FBI agents would have to follow course for now.

L glanced at the manga, staring hard at the front cover of the first one.

"…Ryuzaki?"

L blinked for the first time in six minutes, finally realizing Watari had been on the connection to his monitor the whole time.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Play…

…

Pause.

…

Rewind.

…

Play.

It was raining outside now, and all L could do is keep observing the footage over and over and over again.

He watched the events unfold upon his computer monitor with wide eyes, taking in all that went into action. He already had seen this scene a time before, in still-motion within a manga sitting conveniently next to his tray of sweets.

L watched again and again for probably well over an hour, analyzing every instance to come up with any other logical thought that did not relay back to anything relating to the Death Note Manga. So far, every notion he had sounded ridiculous and out of place, not lining up at all with the evidence presented to him.

Pause.

The screen revealed, towards the back of the bus, a young man with brown hair talking to a man sitting behind his seat. A crazed man was towards the front of the front, clearly visible to L but not that important. What was important to the detective at the moment was the tiny flare of white within the young man's hand, shown discreetly to the suited man behind him.

If what L knew of the Manga was true, this would be the moment where Raye Penbar would act and reveal his identity to Light, effectively ending his life in a metaphorical sense. At the moment, L suspected it would turn to a literal sense if Light had already written the man's name in the notebook of death. He glanced to the bottom left hand corner of the computer, to glance at the time. It was indeed late, so there was a high probability Mr. Penbar was already sentenced to death by pen.

It was an unsettling notion at best.

…Play.

The scene went smoothly afterwards. Light apparently drops a tiny slip of white paper, alerting the busjacker to the 'secret' conversation. Said busjacker picks up piece of paper, then looks to the back of the bus at, seemingly, nothing at all. He panics, lets loose all the rounds within his gun, then flees…right into the path of a car, if the newspaper's account today was right.

It was very hard to doubt that the man had seen a clown-like Shinigami standing in the back of the bus. Why else would he suddenly panic and shoot at the rear of the bus? Any other choice or idea seemed strange to place with this perfect series of events.

Light Yagami…his innocence was already a low percentage in L's eyes, and with the stronger proof of the manga's parallelism was staring to make L believe it may be true. Perhaps it would predict every move Light would take.

Action at the right moment would land Light caught red-handed with the object he used for mass killings. That was the clear difference between L in the manga and the real world. L _knew_ exactly how Light killed, and even how he received such a weapon.

However, if he changed one instance and lost the opportunity, the mangas would be completely useless to predict with. L had, vaguely, remembered readings from long ago concerning theoretical changes to a time stream, resulting in a skewed future. It was a _terribly_ uninteresting book, and L could not fully recall everything about that particular subject.

Sighing softly, L pressed a button on his keyboard.

Rewind.

What should he do next?

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Pulling up a window on his computer, Light ignored the Death Note for a mere moment, his attention directed solely to the screen. A search bar was presented to him, but quickly filled with letters and entered into the engine.

The computer's processor hummed lowly, melodically, as it worked. Light waited patiently, his eyes never wavering from the screen.

Results flooded the screen. "'_Macabre killer loose in Los Angeles, kills three_', '_A Profile into the Genius Mind of a Murderer_', '_Beyond Belief; Insane Murderer's Method of Killing_'." Light read through the titles, sifting away from the articles and vying for an FBI report on the subject of one 'Beyond Birthday'.

It was quite easy to access files to the man, but it looked as if some information was whited out on-screen. Light narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he saw a huge paragraph detailing the murderer's past blotted out buy a white streak. It figured. L wouldn't want anyone to know of Beyond's origins.

He scrolled down.

It stated the security he was given and privileges. Slowly, Light glanced back at the Death Note near his computer, so tempted to write Beyond's name within the white pages with relish, but there was some use to be gained from Beyond.

After all, not many humans naturally had Shinigami Eyes. And the fact that he had always wanted to see L's true name made it sweeter. To make L fall from grace…to see he was mortal by the numbers above his head…

Oh yes, Beyond held _many_ venues of possibilities.

But how would he exploit someone who had a thinking process comparable to that of a genius? Sure, he was insane, but he was also intelligent, and Beyond might not want to join Kira in a conquest to defeat L.

Beyond would probably be smart enough to know he'd kill him as soon as he got the chance.

Maybe…Light could use Beyond to send a message to L. A simple heart attack would be too routine, too plain. Messages on walls could come in handy. There was some sort of deeper connection to the detective than what was let on during the book. Unfortunately, that 'Mello' kid wasn't very descriptive and wouldn't put in any juicy information that could be used to benefit.

Scrolling down, Light caught the image of a very unpleasant face, the flesh was noticeably bright pink from a possible skin graft of sorts. The eyes of the man, however, were not harmed in the least, oddly enough. The eyes looked dark, in a sort of haunted expression for being in a certain hell.

Light's hand twitched for a nearby pen. This man was an _abomination_. Disgusting. The world would be much better off without him.

But it could wait.

Just until he got what he needed, Light would not kill Beyond Birthday.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**Sahxyel:** Voila! Chapter two! I'm probably getting some assumptions wrong, and being incredibly vague, but I needed to update this anyway. No M'N'M this chapter, just an insight into our two main geniuses. I'll probably be noted for inconsistencies.

I'm sorry, but L is a CONFUSING psyche! I've always pictured him having a bunch of internal questions, most of them being rhetorical. So, my interpretation of L. Ta-da!

Beyond Birthday WILL be active soon! :D Will BB really be important in the plot? Wait and see!

**Random Moogle: This chapter has been edited by Sahxyel due to some layout problems, which have been corrected! Hurray!**


	4. Beyond Belief

**Sahxyel:** Whahaha! Time to rewrite!

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**Beyond Belief**

It was sufficient to guess that Beyond Birthday was not a very happy person at the moment. Perhaps it was the blinding pain always shooting like lightning through his shining red membrane that had, at one time, been his skin. Maybe the complete boredom (and indignity) of a life condemned to a hospital bed was what made him so undoubtedly unhappy.

…No. It had to be the absence of strawberry jam that was truly making him upset. Pain was nothing; he had been living with it for a while now and it didn't so much as bother him as it did annoy. His boredom had a stopper, being in the form of a mounted television upon a wall on the other end of his room. The channel was forever fixed upon a news station; but it was better than some.

As for dignity, that had been thrown out the window _years_ ago.

Beyond allowed himself to glance at the television as a newsflash screamed its way across the screen. He honestly had nothing better to do rather than pay attention.

"And we have had an official report! Several inmates at the Southern California Federal Prison have been confirmed to have died by heart attacks, in what can only be more unusual activity caused by Kira!"

Well. That was nice. That jail was just next door to the federal hospital Beyond was currently in. Chances were that Kira would draw closer and closer to freeing him from a life, in Beyond's opinion, worse than death.

"Hehehe, they're coming fer ya Freak!"

Beyond shifted his gaze to the door, and saw a scrawny old man in an inmate's garb standing there. He was leaning upon a crutch, and seemed to have bandages wrapped around his midsection that were a probable testament to a stabbing in the actual prison. The man leered at him, a vicious smirk upon his face.

"Kira's coming. He ain't going to let anyone get away with murder anymore. Picking us off, one-by-one!" A rusty chuckle emanated from the man. Beyond only blinked, unwilling to go through the pain of talking just to tell him to go away.

"'Course, I didn't kill anyone." The man stated haughtily, as though he were proclaiming to have gone to the moon at one point in his life. "Kira only kills murderers, lucky me!"

Beyond managed a hoarse chuckle. Although pain shot through his jaw, he ignored it. This guy was stupid enough to earn a scorn-filled laugh from him.

Said man raised an eyebrow. "What're you laughin' at?!" He snapped, his face a sneer. "You're gonna die!"

Beyond only chuckled, his voice hoarse and filled with contempt. "I see the color of your suit. You're crimes will condemn you to Kira as much as my own." Pausing to take a breath, Beyond's eyes were focused on the top of the man's head. He saw the man's name hover there, along with the date of his destined death-day. It seemed to be two months from now. Good.

"Well, at least I ain't gonna die like some trash like you!" The man, Ulrich Yeoman, growled. He hobbled in and kicked the door shut behind him. "I'm not a murderer!"

"No…" Beyond started, but stopped himself. He stared above the man's head, his orb-like eyes widening quickly.

Ulrich approached Beyond's bed, a nasty look on his face. "What're you lookin' at?!"

"…" Beyond frowned noticibly, which was amazing considering the pain jolting through his highly sensitive skin. Above Ulrich's head, the number dating his death started to roll back, much like a car's speedometer on a power-drill.

Never in Beyond's life had he ever seen such a phenomena.

The time stopped, giving the man two minutes to live.

Ulrich Yeoman's eyes grew glassy and dark, and he stared at Beyond Birthday with a dead expression. Beyond finally looked to the man's face, and saw nothing suggesting Ulrich was coherent.

Ulrich hobbled to a nearby counter and took an empty syringe off of the tray, then to a white wall just in front of Beyond's line of vision. The inmate turned to look at Beyond…then plunged the needle of the prior sterile syringe into his left arm, drawing ruby-red blood from his veins.

Afterwards, Beyond couldn't see what he was doing. Ulrich had turned around, and seemed to be writing something on the wall with his own blood.

This was an interesting turn of events…

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

_I Know Who You Are._

Beyond stared curiously at the letters, since he was unable to really look at anything besides that message upon the wall. Ulrich Yeoman had written the message himself, using his own blood, before slumping over onto the floor; the numbers above his head blinking to a straight zero.

"And here I thought everything was predestined…" Beyond mumbled, focusing on the words intently.

A knock came to the door, but did not snap Beyond out of his vague thoughts. In fact, not even the blood-curdling shriek from the nurse as she opened the door dashed his attention to the enigma upon the wall.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

L was starting to feel his headache come back to him. Sighing as though annoyed, he stared blankly at a new thread of evidence that Watari had sent him moments ago.

Kira _knew_ about Beyond Birthday.

This was a surprising turn of events. How did Kira know about Beyond? What was this? Did he know of Beyond's origins, of the Orphanage?

Did he know?

As easily as the manga had affirmed L's suspicions of Light Yagami being Kira, this change had effectively dashed it.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

**Sahxyel:** Hmm, it's been a while, hasn't it? But, I digress, I'm back and ready to move on with this! My writing abilities have been activated again after an excruciatingly long hiatus! …I need to go back and fix those mistakes concerning the spelling of 'Wammy' in the previous chapters…Stupid automatic word-fixing thing!

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering; in prison, sometimes the color of your jumpsuit basically spells out the crimes you've done. A little factoid for some great people!

**Danny:** …Eloquent. Anyway, this is getting back on Sahxyel's priorities.

**Random Moogle:** Kupo! Review peoples! The next chapter is a guarantee we get to see Mello, Matt, and Near, as well as their reactions to the Anime!


	5. Unusual Activity

**Sahxyel:** Here is the M'N'M chapter! What kinds of things will Mello, Matt, and Near do? Well, find out…NOW!

**Random Moogle**: Enjoy, readers!

**Unusual Activity**

"No! What is he _**doing**_?! Matsuda, you idiot!"

Matt rolled his eyes and threw some popcorn at Mello, ignoring the scathing glare he received for doing so. If there was _one_ thing Matt didn't like about watching the show with Mello, it was that Mello got very…interactive with the television. Instead of elaborating on why the projectile popcorn was used in such an offensive manner to the second heir, Matt chose to return his attention to the television, only for something hard to collide with his head a moment later. "OW!"

"Don't get into a food fight with me. You won't win, Matt." Mello said darkly, tossing another very tough chocolate bar up and down in his right hand. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, apparently not pleased from the popcorn business. Before Matt could retaliate, however…

The episode ended.

Both of them looked to the television in clear disappointment as the Japanese rock band sung for the ending credits. Above the DVD player, several Death Note Anime cases were stacked on top of each other; ending with their recent addition they had just finished watching.

Sighing, Matt went to the television and shut it off. Mello only viciously snapped a piece of chocolate off of his new bar with obvious resentment…at the moment, anyway.

"So, Matsuda's getting killed at Yotsuba, right?" Mello asked. Matt nodded, slipping the DVD back into its original case. Scoffing, Mello stood from his beanbag chair and rolled his eyes. "About time!"

"Don't get too confident." Matt replied as he placed the DVD's in the closet, behind an old PS2 box. "You know how the stupid show likes to jerk the audience around. Remember when you thought Sochiro was going to shoot Light?"

"Now THAT would have been a great ending!" Mello snapped as he strode out of the room, with Matt following as usual. "Too bad L didn't just do that, de facto or not, would have saved him a ton of trouble."

"I hear that." Matt nodded agreeably.

"Shooting Light would not have given L the honorable win, Mello." A soft voice suddenly spoke, coming from a room nearby. Mello looked to the speaker sharply, immediately scowling as he did so. Matt, naturally, reached for his smokes.

Near continued, twirling a lock of his snow-white hair between his thumb and index finger. "L must prove, without a doubt, that Light is guilty. Any different scenario could allow Light to slip through the grips of justice." The young heir's eyes, normally dark and emotionless, had an odd gleaming quality to them. "However…"

"However **what**?" Mello narrowed his eyes, clearly annoyed.

"However…" Near shifted his gaze away from Mello, looking towards an open window instead. "This is wild speculation of a fictional base. Do you honestly believe L is _truly_ how he is depicted in the Anime?"

There was a foreboding silence in the hall.

"I was expecting him to be older." Matt suddenly said. He removed a lighter from his pocket, flicking it a few times to try and light it. "And not as…"

"As what?" Near inquired curiously, eyes falling onto Matt finally. Mello also glanced at the third heir, a look of skepticism on his face. Matt didn't answer immediately, more interested in lighting his stubborn lighter. A few clicks later gave him a small flame, finally.

"Well…not as…immature?" He lit up a cigarette, taking another few moments. Mello nodded once in agreement, meanwhile Near had tilted his head ever so slightly to the side. "I mean, he acts so childish, when all we've been taught about his is that he's so…uber."

"Uber?"

Mello rolled his eyes contemptuously at Near, "It's a gaming term. It means 'totally awesome in every single way'. Obviously, if L is like he is in the Anime, then L wouldn't BE uber, would he?"

Matt nodded, "Yeah. Pretty much like everyone else…except maybe a bit creepier at the same time." He let out a stream of smoke, looking towards the ceiling. "The idol we worship is nothing but some twenty-something old guy with a thing for sweets and has _serious_ insomnia."

"He never blinks too." Mello added, "Plus he dresses like a bum."

Matt smirked at Mello, "I was _waiting_ for you to bring that up-"

THWACK!

Near flinched noticeably as a DVD case fell onto the floor. Mello, predictably, gave a sharp laugh as he watched the younger heir rub the back of his head. Matt simply retrieved the new case, his goggles giving off an odd gleam from a nearby light.

"I should be used to that by now…" Near murmured softly, blatantly ignoring Mello's show of mocking him.

"Sweet! They finally catch Higuchi in this one." Matt grinned, turning the DVD over. "...Huh? It says there's some 'unpleasant surprise' on the last episode on this. Wonder what that is…?"

"Who cares?! Let's just watch the stupid thing!" Snatching the DVD from Matt's hands, Mello promptly began walking back to the room. Matt looked to his friend, then back at Near, and gave a small shrug.

Near looked to Matt, his voice was very soft at the moment. "Unpleasant surprise…I'll be sure to discover what that is then…"

Nodding, Matt walked back to the room, putting his cigarette out in a planter nearby.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Roger was one to never get concerned over children's behavior in the Orphanage, but in this case, he was willing to make an exception. He hobbled slowly up the stairs towards the dormitories of the current residents of Wammy's House, his cane shaking slightly as he put too much pressure on it. His hip hurt like crazy, which was to be expected since he took such a nasty fall a few weeks ago, but this needed to be done.

After all, when the top three residents of the Orphanage start acting odd, it was a good idea to go to action.

Many of the students there were quite unsettled when reporting the actions of Near, Mello, and Matt. They had cited, more on occasion, of suspicious behavior all three exhibited after last week.

Mello was seen to be muttering belligerently under his breath more often, and his tutors had very lightly put that he seemed to be very touchy lately, and had some sort of adverse reaction whenever the word 'light' was mentioned. A very _violent_ adverse reaction, that is.

Near, for some reason, had a hard time focusing on anything lately. His gaze was reported to be very distant and cloudy, as if his thoughts were elsewhere. He had taken to playing with tiny little toys of people lately, labeling them with a black sharpie. One tutor had confiscated a toy that was labeled 'L' from Near, with an unnerving accurate depiction of the detective on it…

As for Matt, he was reported to have been smoking twice as much lately, and was incredibly jumpy. It was odd behavior for him, since Matt was the least paranoid out of all three. He was also seen on the Orphanage's computer more often, and had been seen pulling an all-nighter three times this week.

Finally reaching the top of the stairs, Roger headed down the hall towards the three's rooms. Children who were playing in the hall immediately ran into their rooms, possibly because they feared the power of Roger's mighty cane. Roger paid no mind, shuffling past the rooms without much thought. He reached the end of the hall and cleared his throat, adjusting his spectacles on his face.

He opened the door and peered inside, "Near, I need to speak with you-"

The room was empty.

Frowning, Roger shut the door and went to Matt's room next. He opened the door. "Matt, have you seen Near anywh-What?" Like Near's room, Matt's room was also vacant.

This was unprecedented. Where did those two go? It was curfew for god's sake! Unwillingly, Roger peered into Mello's room, which had the same result. It was empty too.

"Where are they?!"

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Mello sprawled out luxuriously in his seat, crunching down on a chocolate bar with relish. He glanced to his left, out of a tiny window. "How long is the flight, again?"

"Dunno. A day, I think." Matt replied, his attention focused on the red DS he held in his hands. On the screen displayed a little man in red overalls, who seemed to be trying to jump up into a pipe. "You still sore for bringing Near along?"

Mello scowled noticeably, "If that little puffball didn't threaten to tell Roger about the stupid Anime…" He snapped another piece of chocolate off of his bar viciously. "Rrgh!"

"Well, at least he conceded." Matt said, "If he thought this was all bogus, he wouldn't have come along to begin with."

Mello didn't seem to be reassured, glaring broodingly out of the dark window. Matt noticed his expression in a side glance, and chuckled a little. "Hey, lighten up a bit. At least he's in Coach."

Turning his head sharply, the blonde's eyes widened, before a devilish grin graced his face. "Really?"

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Little white-haired Near couldn't have been more unhappy than he was now. Currently, he was squashed between an unpleasant woman and morbidly obese fat man, both of which would not shut up about how _adorable_ he was.

"Look at his hair, it's so silky and fluffy!" The woman cooed. "And you're traveling without an adult supervisor? How brave of you!"

"Going to Japan is such a big thing for someone like you to do by yourself, kid. You have family there or something?"

Near tried to ignore them. The operative word, of course, was '_tried_', but for some reason, his tuning out abilities were failing him in such a dire situation. He focused desperately on the newspaper the fat man gripped between his ridiculously chubby hands. "May I see that for a moment?" He asked softly, immediately recognizing the word 'Kira' on the front page.

"Sure kid, I'm done with it anyway." The man gave the paper to Near, opting to watch the in-flight movie.

Now armed with a newspaper, Near found it increasingly easier to ignore the woman directly next to him. He looked to the front page article, reading in interest.

"_Kira Kills All Who Oppose Him!_" The newspaper seemed to be blatantly yelling at Near, rather rudely too. Calmly, Near read on.

After a few moments, his lips quirked into a small smile. "So…that's where we are at the moment…" Instinctively, his hand came up, fingers already twirling a lock of hair. The article was just announcing the deaths of the many FBI agents sent to Japan to assist L. Judging by that, Light should be in the stages of either being bugged, or if the newspaper was old, meeting L soon.

So, the only place logical enough to meet the two would be the Toho University, correct? After all, Near reasoned, none of them knew exactly where L was stationed in Japan. All of the hotels would be such a burden to check, as well as police stations.

Why not surprise both L and Light at the University? Misa wasn't around yet, so the possibility of all three of them being compromised would be extremely low…Added, to _meet_ L…whether or not he was actually the awkward man in the Anime didn't matter to Near at all. L was still the greatest detective in the world, irregardless of what he was as a person.

As for Light, or Kira, if he truly existed, he would have an incredibly nasty shock coming very soon…

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**Sahxyel:** Muhaha! Plot progression! As the Three Stooges (I mean, Three Heirs) head to Japan, we shall slip back to L's perspective for the next chapter! What does that mean? It means A LOT of things!

**Danny:** Whoa! This chapter came up fast, even for you!

**Me**: I said I was inspired. Inspiration is a great influence!

**Random Moogle**: Kupo! Review people!


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